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(November 1989), Mexico and Caribbean (March 1990) and talks with President Bush in Toronto on 10 April and at Kennebunkport on
27 August. There has also been a good flow of VIPs through Ottawa, including Gorbachev in May.
10. Canada is a member of NATO, the G7, the OAS, the Commonwealth
It provides first-class and, currently, the UN Security Council. training areas for our troops in Alberta and low flying training in Labrador for our aircraft. And it provides troops for peace-keeping in Cyprus.
11 Canada also retains 7,000 troops in Germany, which is particularly important in the context of European stability; is in line with our view of NATO as enshrining North America's commitment to Europe, and is even consistent with Gorbachev's statement that some means had to be found of reinforcing the "Canadian European vocation". Moreover, the retention of Canadian forces is sought by the Germans themselves (not least because of the local economic importance of the base at Lahr to Canadian officials).
Developments
in the Soviet Union and Eastern and Central Europe have underscored political and economic importance of Europe for Canada.
12. The Secretary of State attended the first Open Skies conference in Ottawa on 12-14 February 1990.
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―
(This arose from
At the Open Skies
President Bush's initiative in May 1989 subsequently endorsed at the NATO Summit later that year aimed at allowing member States of the two Alliances to conduct aerial surveillance of each other's military activities and installations). Conference, the Foreign Ministers of the four Berlin powers and the two German states agreed a mechanism to manage the process towards
two-plus four formula. German unification, the so-called
13.
Canada is an active member of La Francophonie, the grouping of the international Francophone community to promote cooperation and interchange in the political, economic and cultural fields.
14. Canada has taken some 21,000 Vietnamese boat people from
Hong Kong and is expecting to take another 16,000 in the next 3
years.
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